Jim Gentile (pronounced "jen-TEE-uhl," born June 3, 1934 in San Francisco, California), also nicknamed "Diamond Jim", is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and left-handed batter who played with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (1957-58); Baltimore Orioles (1960-63), Kansas City Athletics (1964-65), Houston Astros (1965-66) and Cleveland Indians (1966). A powerful slugger listed at 6' 4", 215 lb, Gentile languished for eight years in the minors for a Dodgers team that already had All-Star Gil Hodges in first base. Traded to Baltimore, Gentile enjoyed his best season in 1961, hitting a career-highs .302 batting average, 46 home runs, 141 runs batted in, 96 runs, 147 hits, 25 doubles. 96 walks, .346 on base percentage, .646 slugging average and 1,069 OPS. He was considered in the MVP selection (third, behind Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris). In addition, Gentile hit five grand slams -- including two straight in one game --, setting an American League record that stood until Don Mattingly belted six in 1987.
In nine-season career, Gentile batted .260 (759-for-2922) with 179 home runs, 549 RBI, 434 runs, 113 doubles, six triples, and three stolen bases in 936 games.
Highlights
3-time All-Star (1960-62) Top 10 MVP (3rd, 1961) Set an Orioles record for RBI (141, 1961) Became the second player in MLB history to hit five grand slams in a season (in 1961. Ernie Banks did it in 1955) Became the third player in MLB history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings (in 1961. Tony Lazzeri in 1936, and Jim Tabor in 1939, were the others)
